Focused programs and public health policies can help reduce the burden of alcohol in Canada, which contributes significantly to acute and chronic diseases, social problems and trauma, states an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100825.pdf. The analysis, by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia and the University of Victoria, outlines several steps that must be taken to reduce the impact of alcohol in society ...

Exposure to low-dose radiation from cardiac imaging and other procedures after a heart attack is associated with an increased risk of cancer, found a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100463.pdf. The use of procedures with low-dose ionizing radiation, such as computed tomography (CT) angiography and nuclear scans, is increasing which has led to mounting concern in the medical community that patients may be at increased risk of cancer. For patients with known or suspected coronary artery ...

A five-week old infant most likely contracted a vaccine strain of yellow fever virus through breastfeeding, according to a case report published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100619.pdf "Until recently, avoidance of vaccination of breastfeeding women with yellow fever vaccine had been based on theoretical grounds only," writes Dr. Susan Kuhn, with coauthors. "We report the probable transmission of vaccine strain of yellow fever virus from a mother to her infant through breastfeeding," which supports ...

STANFORD, Calif. — The root causes of complex diseases such as type-2 diabetes and obesity have been difficult to identify because the diseases are, well, complex. They occur at the dicey biological intersection of genes and environment, and, because they arose in our relatively recent past, it's not easy to simply compare DNA sequences from "then" and "now" to pinpoint likely genetic culprits. Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified genetic variations in a hormone involved in the secretion of insulin — a molecule that regulates blood ...

The majority of fatal cases of malaria are caused by infection with the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Most at risk are young children and women who are pregnant. A team of researchers, led by Patrick Duffy, at the National Institutes of Health, Rockville, has now developed an approach to profile P. falciparum parasites in such a way that they are able to identify parasite genes associated with severe infection. In the study, they identified a distinct subset of genes in parasites infecting pregnant women, including a gene whose protein product is already known to be ...

EDITOR'S PICK: Profiling malaria-causing parasites The majority of fatal cases of malaria are caused by infection with the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Most at risk are young children and women who are pregnant. A team of researchers, led by Patrick Duffy, at the National Institutes of Health, Rockville, has now developed an approach to profile P. falciparum parasites in such a way that they are able to identify parasite genes associated with severe infection. In the study, they identified a distinct subset of genes in parasites infecting pregnant women, including ...

Kyoto, Japan -- Unprecedented single molecule imaging movies of living cell membranes, taken by a research team based at Kyoto University and the University of New Mexico, have clarified a decades-old enigma surrounding receptor molecule behaviors. The results, appearing in the latest issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, promise to open the door to new possibilities for drug development. The work focuses on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), a class of molecules in cell membranes that comprise the largest superfamily in the human genome. In spite of being the focus ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Numerous studies have shown that the brain molecule neuropeptide Y (NPY) helps to restore calm after stressful events. A team of University of Michigan-led researchers has now found that people whose genes predispose them to produce lower levels of NPY are more responsive to negative stimuli in key brain circuits related to emotion – and are therefore less resilient in the face of stress and may be at higher risk for developing a major depressive disorder. The scientists hope the research will eventually help with early diagnosis and intervention for ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — As loved ones with dementia disappear into symptoms of aggression, agitation or delusions, families are left with few good medical solutions. A new generation of antipsychotic medications gained popularly in the 1990s because they avoided side effects such as Parkinson's syndrome associated with conventional antipsychotic medications used to treat dementia. But a new study led by University of Michigan and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System researchers shows the use of these second-generation medications began to decline significantly in 2003, years ahead ...

The bone marrow stem cells responsible for generating new blood cells are less fixed and more flexible than previously thought, according to a paper published online on February 7 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org). Some earlier studies suggested that these hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) come in two distinct varieties: those that remain dormant during times of health but possess the ability to regenerate the whole blood system after trauma such as irradiation or chemotherapy, and those that divide frequently and contribute to new blood production during ...

Never before has a therapy proven more beneficial for women than men in preventing heart disease – until now. A new study, published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that women receive a significantly greater benefit – a 70 percent reduction in heart failure and a 72 percent reduction in death – from cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) than men. "In prior cardiac studies, men and women generally received similar benefit from preventive medical therapy," said cardiologist Arthur J. Moss, M.D., professor of Medicine ...

In a finding of significant worldwide public-health consequence, researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine and in the Academy of Sciences in the Czech Republic have found that emissions from the indoor use of coal for heating and cooking may impair early childhood growth and development. The research, published online today in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Archives journal, found that children reared in homes where coal was the primary fuel source exhibited shorter stature at 36 months of age when compared with children reared in households ...

Berkeley – New experiments at the University of California, Berkeley, may one day lead to anti-viral treatments that involve swallowing Salmonella bacteria, effectively using one bug to stop another. Researchers at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health have reprogrammed Salmonella, the same foodborne pathogen that can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps, to safely transport virus-stopping enzymes into cells without causing disease. Not only did this technique effectively treat mice infected with cytomegalovirus, it worked as an oral solution that was swallowed ...

Grenoble (France) – A novel X-ray imaging technology is helping scientists better understand how in the course of evolution snakes have lost their legs. The researchers hope the new data will help resolve a heated debate about the origin of snakes: whether they evolved from a terrestrial lizard or from one that lived in the oceans. New, detailed 3-D images reveal that the internal architecture of an ancient snake's leg bones strongly resembles that of modern terrestrial lizard legs. The results are published in the 8 February issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The ...

A diet, high in fats, sugars, and processed foods in early childhood may lower IQ, while a diet packed full of vitamins and nutrients may do the opposite, suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The authors base their findings on participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), which is tracking the long term health and wellbeing of around 14,000 children born in 1991 and 1992. Parents completed questionnaires, detailing the types and frequency of the food and drink their children consumed ...

Care home residents are more than four times as likely to get the wrong dose of medicine when it is in liquid form as they are when given pills/capsules provided in a dispenser, indicates research published online in BMJ Quality and Safety. Dispensers, known as monitored dosage systems or MDS for short, comprise a tray or cassette with compartments for one or more doses for a particular day or a given time. They are intended to simplify drug rounds for care home staff and cut the risk of mistakes. But swallowing difficulties mean that some elderly people need to take ...

Up to three quarters of hospital tests are not being followed up, suggests a systematic review of international evidence, published in BMJ Quality and Safety. This failure can have serious implications for patients, including missed or delayed diagnoses and even death, the study shows. The authors base their findings on a systematic review of evidence published in English between 1990 and 2010, and available on reputable research databases. Analysis of the findings of the 12 studies which were suitable for inclusion indicated that between 20% and 61% of inpatient ...

San Diego, CA, February 8, 2011 – When the FDA proposed new rules restricting outdoor tobacco advertising near schools and playgrounds in 2009, the tobacco industry argued that such rules would lead to a near complete ban on tobacco advertising in urban areas. An article in the March 2011 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that the effect of these rules would be less severe than the industry contends. "It is critical to point out one subtle, but important difference between the analysis that the tobacco industry conducted and the analysis presented ...

Cannabis use appears to be associated with an earlier onset of psychotic illness, according to a meta-analysis of previously published studies posted online today that will appear in the June print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. More than 16 million Americans use cannabis on a regular basis, most of whom began using this and other drugs during their teenage years, according to background information in the article. "There is little doubt about the existence of an association between substance use and psychotic illness. National ...

Men and women who have had contact with the criminal justice system—even if they have never received a jail or prison sentence or a guilty verdict—appear to have a significantly higher rate of suicide than the general population, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the June print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Most published research on suicide and the criminal justice system focuses on prisoners during their incarceration or soon after release, according to background information in the article. Few ...

Patients with schizophrenia who take antipsychotic medications appear to lose a small but measurable amount of brain tissue over time, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Schizophrenia affects 1 percent of the worldwide population and remains a leading cause of chronic disability among young adults, according to background information in the article. Progressive changes in brain volume observed in patients with schizophrenia have been thought to be an effect of the disease. "However, recent ...

A warning issued by the Food and Drug Administration regarding the use of atypical antipsychotics for the treatment of dementia was associated with a significant decline in the use of these medications for treating dementia symptoms in elderly patients, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "In 2001, more than 70 percent of U.S. atypical antipsychotic prescriptions were written for off-label indications such as dementia, and atypical antipsychotics accounted for 82 percent of antipsychotic prescriptions ...

Use of medical, mental health and case management services for young adults with an autism spectrum disorder appears to decline after high school, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "The number of young adults in the United States diagnosed as having an autism spectrum disorder is increasing rapidly as ever-larger cohorts of children identified as having an autism spectrum disorder age through adolescence," according to background information in the article. "Regardless of the ...

Children raised in homes using indoor coal for cooking or heating appear to be about a half-inch shorter at age 36 months than those in households using other fuel sources, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the June print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Use of coal for indoor heating is widely prevalent in some countries, exposing millions of people to indoor air pollution from coal smoke," the authors write as background information in the article. "Coal combustion emits chemicals ...

Children placed with a relative after being removed from their home for maltreatment have fewer behavioral and social skills problems than children in foster care, but may have a higher risk for substance use and pregnancy as teenagers, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. These relatives—known as kinship caregivers—appear more likely to be single, unemployed, older, and live in poorer households, yet receive fewer support services than do foster caregivers. Most children who are ...